It is customary to mount protective covers and shields on the front of a motor vehicle to protect the vehicle from the impact and accumulation of insects, debris and other foreign objects. Those areas that are most prone to exposure to such foreign objects are the windshield area, hood, grille and front fender sections surrounding the headlights and parking lights of the vehicle. In particular, trucks and buses which are driven primarily over roads and highways at relatively high speeds are more exposed to damage to the frontal areas along with reduced visibility through the windshield area as a result of impact of foreign objects or the accumulation of insects. For instance, the area which surrounds the grille portion and headlight areas of the front fenders of most trucks are typically painted or chrome-plated and susceptible to pitting or severe scarring as a result of the impact of foreign objects as described making them difficult to clean and more susceptible to rapid deterioration under steady driving conditions. The same is true of the painted sections of the hood, particularly along the top and upper side surfaces of the hood.
Although the aforementioned problems associated with highway driving are more pronounced for larger motor vehicles, such as, commercial trucks the front ends of most trucks are so designed as to make it difficult to devise an effective cover which in combination with a deflector shield for the windshield area can be easily mounted either alone or in combination with one another without introducing any substantial drag which would tend to reduce fuel economy. It is known to provide a shield which is of unitary construction and of the so-called molded wraparound type. For example, a molded wrap-around shield unit is disclosed in U.S. Letters Pat. No. 4,627,657 to J. A. Daniels et al and assigned to the assignee of the present invention. However, it is proposed to make the entire shield including the side wings or fairings of unitary construction and to be so mounted as to minimize the danger of cracking of the shield. Cracking usually occurs as a result of direct connection of the shield to the hood without any means for dampening or absorbing shocks or vibration imparted to the shield under high speed driving conditions. Further, it is desirable to so mount the shield assembly with respect to the hood as to permit its use in combination with a front cover or guard assembly in surrounding relation to the grille and which will extend over the critical front fender portions of the vehicle as well.
Deflector shields have been devised which are of one-piece construction and formed of thermoplastic polymers, such as, Plexiglass, Lucite or acrylic materials including the use of generally channel-shaped mounting brackets to clampingly engage a lower edge of the shield in such a way as to avoid insertion of fasteners through the thickness of the shield. Representative of this approach are U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,518,191 to R. D. Williams et al and 4,153,129 to P. J. Redmond. In each, the shield is adhesively secured within the channel and in certain cases an additional bracket or connecting arm is required to secure the channel portion to the hood of the vehicle. Other bracket designs of this type are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,262,954 to M. H. Thompson and No. 4,621,860 to L. H. Gerst.
In addition to the foregoing, U.S. Pat. No. 2,792,254 to E. A. Hagglund is of interest for disclosing a combination shield and guard for the windshield, hood and grille section of a vehicle. In Hagglund, however, the entire assembly is intended more for mounting as a unitary structure primarily over the grille and front fender portions of the vehicle and does not offer the alternative of usability of the shield and cover portions either alone or in combination with one another. Other representative patents are U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,471,991 to G. H. Matthias; 4,236,592 to J. H. Ziegler; 3,015,517 to A. K. Thornburgh and 3,008,756 to W. S. Lindhardt.